Photos trace history of Asheville's Southside

Urban renewal shook community

2:54 PM,
Feb. 24, 2014

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Some of the most poignant photos Rich Mathews uncovered in his research of the city's Southside neighborhood show groups of children standing still for the cameraman but not knowing why he's taking photographs of the buildings behind them.

The wrecking ball soon followed during those days of the 1960s and 70s as urban renewal planned and documented by people like the photographer decimated areas around the southern ends of Asheland and South French Broad avenues south of downtown.

Once one of the city's most vital African-American neighborhoods, much of the area south of downtown is home ...